Japan's Next Mission: Be Creative

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Japanese chefs also recently won the World Pastry Cup, the "Formula One" of competitive pastry making. Now, winning in something like "pastries" might be dismissed as another case of Japanese creativity being purely derivative. "Japanese are great at copying, but don't really come up with anything new" is a refrain that I've heard hundreds of times over the years—especially from Japanese. But if you've been into a pastry shop in Japan, you'll see all the usual suspects that you'd find in a Parisian patisserie and about a hundred new versions of bread that you never even thought possible. And it is exactly these creative products that should not be dismissed—since from such minor trial-and-error initiatives, entirely new brand product categories can emerge.

Another common dismissal of Japan is that their success only comes from innovating in areas like "high quality" and efficiency. When thinking about Toyota's globally dominant position, it is common to credit only the "quality" of the product. But a study conducted by MIT in the 1990s showed that Ford's (F) factories were often better than Toyota's (TM) in terms of both quality and efficiency.

Savvy Design Is Key

The real reason behind Toyota's success wasn't efficiency—it was creative design. After all, many Americans have fallen out of love with Detroit-based car designs during the last 15 years. (In fact, the last real design breakthrough for Ford was the Taurus, which was originally designed by Mazda.) Meanwhile, Toyota came out with groundbreaking, distinctive models like the Prius and the Scion while improving its Lexus line over time.

As Japan's younger generation rises through the workforce, I believe we will see creativity that both defies expectations and rebuilds the country's reputation in the world as a creative leader. While the ability to renew oneself is no easy feat, I believe the world's image of "stagnant Japan" will be replaced by one of a "creative Japan." More important, as the country makes this major transition, people from around the world will learn a great deal from Japan not only about how to rally around a new national mission, but also about the art of creativity itself.

John C. Beck is the dean of Globis University, one of Japan's top-ranked business schools, where he is developing new programs in creativity and innovation. He is also a visiting professor at IMD (Switzerland) and IPADE (Mexico). Beck is president of North Star Leadership Group and senior adviser to the chairman of Monitor Group.